Chesterton Tribune

 

 

NICTD to spend more to market 'The Train is Easy'

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By KEVIN NEVERS

The South Shore commuter line’s new limited-stop Sunrise Express service--an extra morning rush-hour train, with afternoon return service--cut the once fastest Dune Park-to-Chicago run by fully 20 minutes.

The idea behind the Sunrise Express is simple enough: improve service, attract new riders.

But the Sunrise Express won’t boost ridership among those who don’t know in the first place that it exists. Or, otherwise, among those commuters who haven’t yet been given a good enough reason to leave the car at home and hop a train.

That’s why the Northwest Indiana Commuter Transportation District’s Board of Directors voted unanimously at its meeting Friday morning to increase NICTD’s 2015 marketing budget by 46 percent, from $150,000 to $219,395. Of the new budget, 74 percent or $162,352 will be used to get out this message in the paid media: “Life is Hard--The Train is Easy!

General Manager Michael Noland said that he specifically wants NICTD’s marketing agency, AC Inc. of Valparaiso, to increase the commuter line’s presence in Lake Michigan’s South Shore communities, via local targeted print media; to promote the Sunrise Express on regional radio; and to get “The Train is Easy” catchline on more billboards.

“There are opportunities along the lakefront communities,” Noland said, as well as among those “people who have no idea we’ve enhanced service. Two-hundred new riders? That’s a home run.”

Noland added that he “would like to see this the new marketing budget going forward.”

Ridership Numbers

Meanwhile, NICTD Marketing Director John Parsons reported that total ridership through April was 1,126,026, an increase over the year-ago period of 18,947 riders or 1.7 percent. The average weekday ridership was 11,517, an increase of 86 riders or 0.8 percent. The average peak ridership was 8,632, an increase of 119 riders or 1.4 percent.

Average off-peak ridership, on the other hand, fell by 1.1 percent to 2,885; while average weekend fell by 0.1 percent to 4,223.

NICTD launched the Sunrise Express in the week of March 16, when 1,981 people rode morning rush-hour trains No. 104, 6 (the Sunrise Express), 106, and 108. Ridership promptly fell over the next two weeks, to a low of 1,871, corresponding to the spring break holiday period, then began climbing steadily back up, to a high of 2,086 in the week of May 11, reflecting an increase of 215 riders or 11 percent since the launch week of March 16.

“That’s a good sign,” Parsons said. “We’re certainly encouraged by that.”

Annualizing the ridership numbers from the first third of the year results in a projected increase in annual revenues of $342,935, Parsons noted.

Projected net revenue in 2015: $9,724.

On-time rush-hour performance through April was 89.8 percent: 652 of 714 trains. Nearly half of the late rush-hour trains, 64 or 4.8 percent, were delayed by five to 10 minutes. Not quite a quarter of the other late rush-hour trains, 28 or 2.1 percent, were delayed by over 30 minutes. On-time performance was best in March, at 93.5 percent; and worst in February, at 84.7 percent.

Leading causes of rush-hour delays: Metra delays; reduced speed due too restrictive signals; weather; and conflicts in single-track territory.

Re: April 27

Noland did say that a debrief on the April 27 incident involving a spilled container from a CN train--which blocked an eastbound South Shore train in the area of Kensington Ave. and forced its passengers to cool their heels for something like three hours--showed pretty clearly that NICTD needs to communicate to passengers better. “We’re doing some training,” he reported, and should a similar incident occur “we’ll have more boots on the ground.”

 

 

Posted 6/1/2015

 
 
 
 

 

 

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